Dad refuses to pay child support to his son because he used to pay more than he had to before, but is currently unemployed, he tried to reach an agreement with ex-wife: ‘If I went to court, my support requirements would be zero.’ – FAIL Blog

Divorce is not only separating from your spouse, but it’s also separating your whole life and responsibilities in half, and not everyone is good at managing that. 

When two people decide to file for divorce, they are often only thinking about separating from each other forever, as if that was what it was entitled to. It isn’t. Divorce is not only about the couple itself, but it’s also about everything that they had, whether that is a house or even children. When you get married, you’re not only deciding to spend your life with someone. You’re also agreeing to share everything that you have with someone else. You decide to form a family (even if that is only you two). Marriage is not only a way to celebrate love, but is also an agreement, a contract. And like every contract, you have to do your part. 

Unlike just being in a relationship without making the big step to marriage, when you are married, you have obligations when married and when divorced. These are things you have to do, and can’t renounce. Even when the couple is completely separated, you still have to be obliged to certain things, such as child support, for example. If you had a kid during that marriage, you will have to either be the primary caregiver or provide enough money for the kid to live. This is usually the biggest problem when couples get a divorce. They think that their responsibilities are over. They aren’t. You still have to care for your kid, and that is the number one priority. 

This Reddit story got me to think that sometimes things aren’t so linear. Even though the main priority is to care for your child, maybe sometimes you could have a valid reason to not do it for a while. And that doesn’t mean that the kid stops being the number one priority. It just shows that not everything can be the exact same for everyone. That is why court is always the best option to settle things up in the best and most fair way possible. Prioritizing the child’s interests, but at the same time, not putting impossible standards on an unemployed person.